Los Angeles, CA – Judge to Decide if Kids Can Visit Paralyzed Jewish Mom

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    After a brain injury following childbirth, a mother's family fights for her to see her triplets.Los Angeles, CA – Although she can’t eat, speak or move, Abbie Dorn’s parents say that doesn’t mean she loves her children any less than any other mother would love hers.

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    Nor, her parents say, should Dorn be denied the right to hold her kids or watch as they grow up. They have gone to court in an effort to persuade a judge that their daughter not only wants motherhood, but has a constitutional right to it as well.

    But allowing three preschoolers to spend lengthy periods of time with a woman who can only lay motionless will traumatize them, argues their father, Dan Dorn. He has been raising the two boys and a girl as a single parent since the day he brought them home from the hospital nearly five years ago. He wants things to remain that way.

    After hearing closing arguments from both sides Thursday, Superior Court Judge Frederick C. Shaller is expected to decide whether Dan Dorn must agree to grant his ex-wife regular visitation rights.

    Ultimately, Shaller’s ruling will likely only resolve the matter temporarily. A parental rights lawsuit brought by Abbie Dorn’s parents, Paul and Susan Cohen of South Carolina, is expected to take place later.

    The tragic events that led all parties to Shaller’s courtroom this week began on what should have been the happiest day of Abbie Dorn’s life. That was June 20, 2006, when she left for the hospital to give birth to her sons Reuvi and Yossi and their sister Esti.

    The first two births took place without incident, but as a doctor was delivering Yossi he accidentally nicked Dorn’s uterus. Before doctors could stop the bleeding, her heart had stopped, a defibrillator they used malfunctioned and her brain was deprived of oxygen.

    A year later her husband, believing she would never recover, divorced her and is raising their children at his Los Angeles home. Her parents, meanwhile, took her to their Myrtle Beach, S.C., home where they are caring for her. As the conservators of her estate, they also manage her malpractice settlement of nearly $8 million.

    They want her ex-husband to bring the children there for regular visits.

    Until a four-day visit last December, Dan Dorn had not done so. His ex-wife’s parents say that was the first chance she had to hold her children since the day they were born.

    Both sides agreed in court last week that the visit went well and the children would like to see their mother again.

    But their father wants to limit their interaction to avoid traumatizing them. He noted that his ex-wife can’t speak and he believes she isn’t aware of her surroundings.

    Abbie Dorn’s mother disagrees. She says her daughter expresses her emotions when she smiles or cries and that she communicates with others by blinking her eyes. One long blink means yes. No response to a question means no.

    When a Los Angeles Times reporter visited her last year and asked if she wanted to see her children, Dorn responded with a long, firm blink.


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    24 Comments
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    ALLAN
    ALLAN
    13 years ago

    A heartbreaking story with no winners.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    The needs of the children should govern. If a reputable psychologist says they would be upset or traumatized, they should not be forced to visit.

    itzik18
    itzik18
    13 years ago

    How was she mekabeles the get? Or is she also an agunah by this wolf in sheep’s clothing?

    Babishka
    Member
    Babishka
    13 years ago

    The grandparents should be allowed to see their grandchildren!

    hiijacker
    hiijacker
    13 years ago

    #2 . Don’t underestimate children’s ability to deal with things adults may consider traumatizing.

    PashutehYid
    PashutehYid
    13 years ago

    Unbelievable that anybody could be so cruel to this mother and her family.

    basmelech
    basmelech
    13 years ago

    The mother should have regular visits with her children and the children should bond with their mother. Who knows if this won’t be a positive affect on the mother to help her recover. I don’t think the children will be traumatized. They have to know they have a mother who loves them and they still have a normal life even if they are aware that their mother can’t raise them and take care of them. (I am a mother, and I know children can be very resilient)
    How is a man able to give his wife a get if she isn’t able to agree to it?

    Darek
    Darek
    13 years ago

    U won’t find a child psychologist supporting the fathers claims

    kupshtik
    kupshtik
    13 years ago

    “My 2 cents” is 100% correct Hakudosh Buroch hu installed a natural bond between mother & child , They can be a million miles seperated a mother will feel her childerns need. NO psychologist can determin if its good or bad for the child & defenatley cant determin this from a mothers angle. hat to say this but sounds like father has multiple issues of which the main one is most likley the settlement amount he’s eyeing who knows shame shame

    troubledkid
    troubledkid
    13 years ago

    What would a din torah say?

    Butterfly
    Butterfly
    13 years ago

    To #8 You are 101% correct!! I think the ex husband does not want to face the ex wife. It is the adult who cannot face her. The children can!! Shame on him for keeping the children away from their mother!!

    13 years ago

    Orthodox Jew than he settles with a din Torah not in secular court. If he uses the secular court does not say too much about him

    13 years ago

    Nobody can or has the right to judge the father or the grandparents. The fact is the children are here in this world as a result of their mother’s sacrifice. If they don’t know it now, they will when they get older and mature. If they will fail to have regular visits with their mother, they will be deeply regretful of this later on and will develop a resentfulness toward their father for depriving them of a relationship with their mom. And the mother certainly has every right to spend time with her children – who will adjust to their mother’s condition.

    Darek
    Darek
    13 years ago

    I’m waiting for the VOICE OF REASON to weigh in with his nonsense

    HaMaven
    HaMaven
    13 years ago

    If anyone knows this woman’s name in order to be mispallel on her behalf, please post it. And may Hashem grant the judge much siyatuh dishmayu!

    bahby
    bahby
    13 years ago

    “Both sides agreed in court last week that the visit went well and the children would like to see their mother again.” So what is the issue?

    Quilt
    Quilt
    13 years ago

    If she’s not aware of her children’s presence (which is probably the case if she’s in a vegetative state) they why does she need to see them? It should be up to the father. If the grandparents want to see their grandchildren, they should travel to see them. Somebody needs to prove that she’s aware of different people’s presence and can distinguish between them. Her blinking, smiling, crying, etc., prove nothing. People in a vegetative state do that. I’m sure an impartial, court-appointed expert can perform tests which prove her awareness or lack of it. If she’s not aware, it should be up to the father what he wants to expose his children to.

    think
    think
    13 years ago

    Shame on u Dan, ur wife is the one that did the ultimate sacrifice for these kids, taramatizing? She actually suffered a trauma and is a invalid let her at least see HER kids and see it was worth it. U coward.
    First u chicken out from helping her because u r not getting anything in return u pig,
    Then u take away the things on what she actually gave her life for? U r a shame for the human race.